Lived as the only white guy with 15 black guys on the hall in my dorm. About 3 months in one of them told me I'd earned my Black Card. I was like wtf? I was now an honorary brother! Used the N-word all the time. I think I got it out of my system. But I was always careful to have one of my boys around to vouch for me if I was off the hall.

Things were a lot different then. They used "the n-word" on shows like The Jeffersons, always to make a point about racists of course. Nowadays the word has too much power, which is the opposite of what should have happened.

Mugato:Things were a lot different then. They used "the n-word" on shows like The Jeffersons, always to make a point about racists of course. Nowadays the word has too much power, which is the opposite of what should have happened.

Sounds like about 99.9999999% of political correctness theories. At least to me.

FriarReb98:Mugato: Things were a lot different then. They used "the n-word" on shows like The Jeffersons, always to make a point about racists of course. Nowadays the word has too much power, which is the opposite of what should have happened.

Sounds like about 99.9999999% of political correctness theories. At least to me.

I heard McHale's interview and he was brilliant, but even Stern disagreed with him a bit on Chevy Chase getting criticism for using that word. On the set, he used it in a plainly anti-racist context. If I'm quoting someone or discussing the word itself, I'd prefer not to have to say "the n-word" like I'm five.

The Stealth Hippopotamus:Lived as the only white guy with 15 black guys on the hall in my dorm. About 3 months in one of them told me I'd earned my Black Card. I was like wtf? I was now an honorary brother! Used the N-word all the time. I think I got it out of my system. But I was always careful to have one of my boys around to vouch for me if I was off the hall.

/csb

I hung out with some guys in high school and they all called each other you know and they even called me that a couple times. It was cool and all but one day I said it to them and my friend shook his head and said "no, don't say that." I never said it again.

The Stealth Hippopotamus:Lived as the only white guy with 15 black guys on the hall in my dorm. About 3 months in one of them told me I'd earned my Black Card. I was like wtf? I was now an honorary brother! Used the N-word all the time. I think I got it out of my system. But I was always careful to have one of my boys around to vouch for me if I was off the hall.

/csb

My brother had a Black Card too, and his nickname became "Black Matt" because there were so many people named Matt in our social circles.

He had this friend, who was like 9 feet tall, massive, just MASSIVE black guy, and whenever they would meet up somewhere, and the huge guy got there first, my brother would walk in and put on a thick southern accent and pretend to start a fight with him, and just when the scene got really tense, they would pretend to start making out.

The Stealth Hippopotamus:Lived as the only white guy with 15 black guys on the hall in my dorm. About 3 months in one of them told me I'd earned my Black Card. I was like wtf? I was now an honorary brother! Used the N-word all the time. I think I got it out of my system. But I was always careful to have one of my boys around to vouch for me if I was off the hall.

ModernLuddite:The Stealth Hippopotamus: Lived as the only white guy with 15 black guys on the hall in my dorm. About 3 months in one of them told me I'd earned my Black Card. I was like wtf? I was now an honorary brother! Used the N-word all the time. I think I got it out of my system. But I was always careful to have one of my boys around to vouch for me if I was off the hall.

/csb

My brother had a Black Card too, and his nickname became "Black Matt" because there were so many people named Matt in our social circles.

He had this friend, who was like 9 feet tall, massive, just MASSIVE black guy, and whenever they would meet up somewhere, and the huge guy got there first, my brother would walk in and put on a thick southern accent and pretend to start a fight with him, and just when the scene got really tense, they would pretend to start making out.

While in the Navy I was given a "black chit", so I can say any damn thing I want, and if I get called on it, I pull out my "Soul Brother #1-0629" Chit. Of course, I'm a white boy with sickle-cell trait, which freaks everyone out that finds out. (learned that in boot camp, too).

Wayne 985:I heard McHale's interview and he was brilliant, but even Stern disagreed with him a bit on Chevy Chase getting criticism for using that word. On the set, he used it in a plainly anti-racist context. If I'm quoting someone or discussing the word itself, I'd prefer not to have to say "the n-word" like I'm five.

FriarReb98:Mugato: Things were a lot different then. They used "the n-word" on shows like The Jeffersons, always to make a point about racists of course. Nowadays the word has too much power, which is the opposite of what should have happened.

Sounds like about 99.9999999% of political correctness theories. At least to me.

What the fark does that even mean? My point was that political correctness gave the word more power that it should have had.

The Stealth Hippopotamus:Lived as the only white guy with 15 black guys on the hall in my dorm. About 3 months in one of them told me I'd earned my Black Card. I was like wtf? I was now an honorary brother! Used the N-word all the time. I think I got it out of my system. But I was always careful to have one of my boys around to vouch for me if I was off the hall.

/csb

Closet racist cracker. Shoulda never been in your system to begin with. I'm just messing with you. If you were the slightest bit racist you would've been freaked out and in hell surrounded by black people.

ParagonComplex:The Stealth Hippopotamus: Lived as the only white guy with 15 black guys on the hall in my dorm. About 3 months in one of them told me I'd earned my Black Card. I was like wtf? I was now an honorary brother! Used the N-word all the time. I think I got it out of my system. But I was always careful to have one of my boys around to vouch for me if I was off the hall.

/csb

Closet racist cracker. Shoulda never been in your system to begin with. I'm just messing with you. If you were the slightest bit racist you would've been freaked out and in hell surrounded by black people.

It's very possible to surrounded by black people and still be massively racist. If they were alive today any slave owner could tell you exactly that

busy chillin':The Stealth Hippopotamus: Lived as the only white guy with 15 black guys on the hall in my dorm. About 3 months in one of them told me I'd earned my Black Card. I was like wtf? I was now an honorary brother! Used the N-word all the time. I think I got it out of my system. But I was always careful to have one of my boys around to vouch for me if I was off the hall.

/csb

I hung out with some guys in high school and they all called each other you know and they even called me that a couple times. It was cool and all but one day I said it to them and my friend shook his head and said "no, don't say that." I never said it again.

csb

Yeah, I'm much more inclined to believe busy chillin's version... I was the only white male in my graduating class in high school. The "Pooky" in my handle comes from my nickname in high school. At no point would any of my friends have thought it was cool for me to use the n-word, even in the familiar slang version.

The Stealth Hippopotamus:Lived as the only white guy with 15 black guys on the hall in my dorm. About 3 months in one of them told me I'd earned my Black Card. I was like wtf? I was now an honorary brother! Used the N-word all the time. I think I got it out of my system. But I was always careful to have one of my boys around to vouch for me if I was off the hall.

/csb

I know it sounds cliche, but my best friend in H.S. was black. He was like my brother. He would go on vacations with us, etc.One day I was driving somewhere with him, and this black guy in another car was driving recklessly, and passed me on the shoulder, and almost clipped my front bumper. I said,"YOU STUPID N@###R!!!"I looked over at my friend, and he looked crushed. I felt really stupid. I have not used that word in any context since.

Rumpertumpskin:The Stealth Hippopotamus: Lived as the only white guy with 15 black guys on the hall in my dorm. About 3 months in one of them told me I'd earned my Black Card. I was like wtf? I was now an honorary brother! Used the N-word all the time. I think I got it out of my system. But I was always careful to have one of my boys around to vouch for me if I was off the hall.

/csb

I know it sounds cliche, but my best friend in H.S. was black. He was like my brother. He would go on vacations with us, etc.One day I was driving somewhere with him, and this black guy in another car was driving recklessly, and passed me on the shoulder, and almost clipped my front bumper. I said,"YOU STUPID N@###R!!!"I looked over at my friend, and he looked crushed. I felt really stupid. I have not used that word in any context since.

Yeah, it's the hate in the word that gets folks riled up.

I went to a heavily mixed race school growing up. When my black friends would call me nigguh I'd use it back in the same way. It wasn't offensive to them. But it isn't something that just gets thrown around in work or random social settings.